1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media feeding and more specifically a method of detecting a media change and prompting a user to verify characteristics of the changed media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image-forming devices are known for producing images on media such as plain paper, photo paper, transparencies and the like. Image-forming devices include laser printers, ink jet printers, and other types of printing peripherals that may include devices, such as a multi-function peripheral device or all-in-one device. In such an image-forming device or peripheral, media is positioned on an input tray and fed from the input tray through the printing device along a feedpath to an output tray. In general, the image-forming mechanism of the device, such as an ink jet printing mechanism, moves in a direction substantially perpendicular to the movement of the media through the media feedpath. However, the image-forming mechanism may alternatively be stationary relative to the media moving past the image forming portion of the device.
In low-cost peripheral devices, media changes between print jobs are typically not recognized. As media-type sensors have been introduced into these printing systems, the media-type may be detected at the beginning of a print job. However, these systems still rely on a user to actuate a menu and manually change the media size so that the print controller may properly determine the layout of the image being printed on to media. For example, if the media size is not changed within the menu system, a printer may continue printing when media has already passed through the print zone due to a change in media size. This causes ink spray on to the mechanisms and components adjacent the print mechanism and may result in ink smearing on later prints. Alternatively, if media-type is changed and not compensated for by the controller, the image quality may suffer significantly. This is because controllers are generally calibrated to eject ink in different ways for different media-types.
It would be helpful to a user if the printing peripheral recognized a media change and affirmatively prompted a user to verify media characteristics located within the input tray of the feedpath.